Protecting your online privacy is crucial, and your DNS queries play a big role in that. Some DNS services track your browsing data, but privacy-aware public DNS services prioritize your privacy. This list highlights the best options from my experience to help you keep your online surfing private with a fast and reliable experience.
Ready-to-use online DNS services are perfect for those who travel frequently and are far from their own hosted DNS server (without a CDN). These services ensure reliable DNS access no matter where you are.
Great Functionality. Almost the same functionality to NextDNS but then self owned if you choose for the Self-hosting solution. Very userfriendly and still full with features
My top recommendation is NextDNS. Similar to Adguard DNSI highly suggest it for anyone looking to filter queries and block specific domains to enhance cybersecurity, protect families, block ads, prevent trackers, and improve overall privacy. The affordable paid plans offer a complete set of professional features for a comprehensive experience.
Second, I would recommend Quad9 due to its strong focus on online privacy. It’s GDPR-compliant and based in Switzerland, benefiting from additional privacy protections. With a global network of servers, it provides reliable and secure DNS services.
Third, I recommend MullvadDNS. In addition to their excellent privacy-focused VPN service, they also offer a public DNS option. As a private company with no commercial interests, they prioritize user privacy above all else.
A privacy focused public dns service who is located in Germany owned by a profit company xTom. Fully GDPR compliant and does not log any query's. There is still a claim for anonymized data collection.
As a final option, this is a more cautious choice, but still better than Google's Public DNS. I will also include Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS, which offers strong privacy features and low-latency connections. They are highly focused on cybersecurity and internet traffic analysis. However, the downside is that the traffic passing through their servers is thoroughly analyzed, which could potentially lead to identification over time.
For devices who doesn't travel far, you can just selfhost your own dns. Here are my favorites for that.
Great Functionality. Almost the same functionality to NextDNS but then self owned if you choose for the Self-hosting solution. Very userfriendly and still full with features
Technitium DNS Server is an open source tool that can be used as a personal local DNS server for privacy & security. It includes Ad blocking feature combined with DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS support.
There are alot more DNS providers and solutions that I was not able to test yet. But from the ones I have tested are those my best choices for begin 2025.
Comments
Cloudflare is a mass surveillance machine, I wouldn't use their DNS for privacy.